


Still Beautiful

by weepingnaiad



Category: Star Trek (2009)
Genre: Commitment, Established Relationship, M/M, Retirement
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-10-05
Updated: 2009-10-05
Packaged: 2017-10-14 10:41:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/148386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/weepingnaiad/pseuds/weepingnaiad
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is for the Quotes #5 prompt at the LJ comm, space_married.<br/><i>To me, fair friend, you never can be old,<br/>For as you were when first your eye I eyed,<br/>Such seems your beauty still.<br/>- William Shakespeare</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Still Beautiful

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: The characters and universe belong to the Creator himself, Roddenberry, and possibly Paramount, but since they’re inferior lifeforms and are not the Creator, I’m not acknowledging their claim. I am only borrowing the characters and universe so they can come out and frolic a bit, not intending any copyright infringement of any sort. I do own my original characters, but they are available for parties!
> 
> Beta: the ever awesome and amazing DapperScavenger!

McCoy walked onto the observation deck and stopped. The doors whooshed closed behind him, yet he made no attempt to move forward. Jim had been tightly wound and upset, his mood growing darker as they neared Earth, and now he was brooding, staring into space and completely ignoring McCoy’s presence.

McCoy knew the cause for his husband’s mood. He also knew that there was little either of them could do to completely eliminate the underlying reason for his melancholy, but McCoy was determined to at least try. He walked up to the captain and wrapped his arms about him, smiling at their two-headed reflection in the large viewscreen. Their eyes met as the colors of space whirled past. The void outside the ship while at warp had once terrified McCoy, but now he looked at it and found serenity in their little bubble outside of space and time, just he and Jim together.

Jim loved space and always had. He was the one who had shown McCoy the beauty of the infinite and now McCoy hoped to show Jim the beauty of the finite, of the small things, of fresh air, green grass and the wind on your face. He tightened his arms around Jim and whispered against his skin, “We’ve had a great run, Jim. It’s time to celebrate and let others have their shot at the stars.”

Jim turned in McCoy’s arms and leaned against the screen. His blue eyes were bright, but weary. “I’m not done here, not ready to leave all this behind, Bones. I’m not ready to retire and be put out to pasture.”

McCoy snorted and tilted his head back, hazel eyes mischievous. “You will never be put out to pasture… you’d end up turning it into a racetrack.” He cocked his head and looked at Jim, his smile tightening. “If you don’t want to give up the chair, then fight them for it… for **_her_**.” He knew what he was saying, what he was offering and what he was giving up, but home was only ever at this man’s side.

Jim glared at McCoy, eyes flashing. “I’m not that selfish, Bones! I saw the offer…”

“Jim, Stop!” McCoy reached up and pressed his fingers to Jim’s lips. “Listen, just this once.” His voice was soft and serious, so Jim nodded.

“The Enterprise’s retrofit will take two years, Jim. That’s time enough for you to try this teaching gig Pike’s been after you about. If it doesn’t work out, then we can come back out here. Just decide what you want and, whatever it is, I’ll be there, beside you.”

“I want you to be happy, too. That position was your dream, head of the research facility at Johns Hopkins? You’d have everything you ever wanted.” Jim turned back to the viewscreen, his shoulders almost, but not quite, slumping.

McCoy leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Jim, pulling him back against his chest. He huffed against Jim’s ear. “I already have everything I want, Jim. You and me, together, wherever. I mean that. That position was purely administrative and you know how I feel about paperwork. And it entailed begging people for funding.” He nipped Jim’s neck and spoke against the tender skin. “You know how I hate that shit. Besides, I already turned them down. Got something else lined up.”

Jim cocked his head and frowned, turning to look at Bones. “You turned them down? Why?”

“Because I want to do research, not push papers. And, an old friend made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.” McCoy’s hazel eyes sparkled. “It was supposed to be a surprise, but I should have known… you have all the patience of a gnat, Jim.”

“Bones…” Jim huffed. “Just tell me, damn it!”

McCoy dragged his husband close, their faces staring out into the void, watching as they dropped from warp and the swirling lights settled into stars against the black night of space. He whispered, “No. You’ll just have to wait for once.”

Uhura’s voice came over the comm. “Captain to the bridge.”

McCoy released Jim and smirked as he glared at him. “You better hurry, dear. Wouldn’t want Spock to be the one greeting Pike.”

“Bones…” but he had no time for more as Uhura’s voice came over the comm again. He moved to the wall unit and pressed the button. “Kirk here. I’m on my way.”

With one last glance at Bones leaning against the viewscreen, the wide expanse of space behind him, Jim left the observation deck.

~~~*~~~

The following days were a whirlwind of activity as Jim attended many promotion ceremonies and signed off on recommendations and reviews. He sat in their small but comfortable San Francisco apartment buried in reports, checklists, inventories, authorizations, requests, and personal letters. The glasses that Bones had given him for his 40th birthday had slipped to the end of his nose as he read through the class syllabus Barnett had given him.

McCoy walked in the door, calling out, “Honey, I’m home!” but his laughter and bright smile vanished as he saw his husband look up to greet him from behind a huge stack of PADDs, face forlorn. He moved to Jim’s side and lifted the glasses from his nose before leaning in to give him a soft kiss. “What is it, Jim?”

Jim leaned into the strong arms and rested his head against McCoy’s chest. “I can’t do this. I’m not cut out to be an instructor, Bones.” He poked his finger at the PADD on top of the stack. “This… this course… Barnett has it structured so that it is completely useless! I don’t even know why Pike suggested I teach it.” He lifted his head to meet concerned hazel eyes. “Do you need any help at the lab?”

McCoy tugged Jim up and walked to their small balcony. The sky was slowly turning from blue to violet behind the Golden Gate Bridge. He stood behind Jim and wrapped his arms about him. “Look out there, up at the stars. You never followed anyone else’s ideas or maps or rules when you were up there, why should you start now? Maybe that’s why Pike asked for you? Maybe it was his way of asking you to come help those cadets to think more like you and less like Barnett?”

Jim was silent as he contemplated the sky and Bones’ words. Bones just stood with him, arms around him as they watched night fall. After long minutes, Jim turned. “Bones?” He stopped, suddenly unsure, his summer blue eyes hesitant.

“Yes, Jim?”

“If it doesn’t work out… if I can’t do it… will you come out there with me again? Even though your research is so important?”

McCoy tugged Jim close, hating how insecure leaving the captain’s chair had made his husband. “Jim, you’re stuck with me. I don’t do long distance marriage. The research is essential, I won’t deny that. No one else is bothering with these diseases because they don’t hit the golden people, just the poor and the underclass. But we’re getting good people on board, even some who wouldn’t have considered this kind of work before. I think in a couple of years, they’ll be able to live without me. And I won’t live without you.”

“I just… damn it, Bones!” Jim pulled away and faced the sky, his hands on the railing. “I feel… old… and useless. You stepped off the Enterprise into a whole new career, worthwhile and crucial, while I sit here signing forms.”

“So, don’t.”

Jim looked up at him, his brow knitted in confusion.

“Don’t just sit here signing forms. That’s not you. You’ve never followed their rules. Why do so now?” McCoy crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes dark as he paused. “Jim, you know you can’t captain the Enterprise forever… unless you plan on doing some fool thing and get yourself killed out there. And so help me…”

“Bones.” Jim reached up and soothed the lines on his husband’s forehead. “I don’t want to die out there. I just don’t know what else to do. Was good for nothing before command was my goal. And now, I don’t know what else there is.”

“So explore the possibilities. Build a class on your command style, instead of Barnett’s, or Pike’s or Archer’s. Lead those kids by **_your_** example. You have brilliant instincts and you’re a genius, but not everyone is, so figure out how to teach them to achieve your results without having your resources. That’d be a challenge worthy of James Tiberius Kirk.”

Jim’s eyes took on their usual sparkle as he began to follow the suggestion, his mind already plotting and planning, and he smiled at Bones.

“Now come on, kid. We’ve got to get ready for dinner. Chapel’s in town and I owe her a bottle of champagne.”

“Kid? Damn it, Bones. You can’t call me that anymore. I found two gray hairs this morning.”

McCoy laughed. “Two?” He ran his hands through his graying temples. “Look at these.’ He carded his fingers through the top of his hair, pulling the strands up. “And these. No one can see yours, lost in that blond head. Jo even suggested I get it ‘fixed’ since she doesn’t have kids yet and thought I already looked too much like the grandfatherly type.”

Jim pulled McCoy close and kissed him hard and passionately. The kiss lingered, turning soft, tender. “Bones, you’re fuckin’ sex on legs and the gray just adds to it. You look… distinguished. I’m just glad I got that ring on your finger. Too many folks around here don’t give a damn that we’re together. I’ve seen the looks you get.”

McCoy snorted. “Yeah, right. No one notices me when I’m next to the legendary James T. Kirk. You and those eyes, babe. Those lips.” He stroked his thumb over Jim’s lips, up his cheek, to caress the soft lines beside his eyes. Lines that he had seen form, that he had the privilege of knowing all the trials and tribulations that put them there.

“I still got it? Even after all these years?” His eyes shone with love and fond affection as he gazed into hazel green eyes.

“No.” McCoy shook his head as he stroked his hands through Jim’s soft hair and cupped his cheek. “You’re better. I was hooked from the first. When you gave me that confused look and tried to console me on the shuttle, you had me, but that’s nothing compared to now. Look at you.” One hand slid to grip Jim’s bicep, while the other trailed down his muscled back. “You’ve grown into one helluva man, Jim Kirk, and I find you more beautiful now than ever.”

“Bones…” Jim murmured, leaning in for a kiss before resting their foreheads together. “To me, fair friend, you never can be old, For as you were when first your eye I eyed, Such seems your beauty still…”

McCoy chuckled softly. “Flatterer. Quoting Shakespeare now? You think it will help you get laid?”

Jim grinned. “Won’t it?”

McCoy growled and dragged him toward the bedroom. “You know it will, but we’re going to be late for dinner.”

The End


End file.
